Four Rotating Magnets Run Clock. (May, 1932)

Four Rotating Magnets Run Clock.

NO MATTER how closely you listen, you can’t hear this clock tick because four rotating magnets have replaced the old gears, making the clock “tickless.” The mechanism of this new timepiece, shown below, is made up of four magnetic fields. One rotates every second; one each minute; the third each hour; and the fourth operates the hour hand at the rate of one revolution every twelve hours.

The new clock must be set face up on a table or support because the mechanism doesn’t function properly when hung on a wall or placed on the mantel.

I was thinking an electric motor synced to 60 Hz (assuming U.S.) but this was before the power grid was stabilized. Maybe some type of brushless motor, but that wouldn’t explain why it needs to lie flat.

Ely says: May 10, 20101:50 am

Very hard to explain. I don’t see a way this could have work.

Jari says: May 10, 201010:51 am

If that lamp is an integral part of the clock, maybe it works like an electricity meter? Eddy currents on aluminum discs, different coil arrangement for different speeds.